Day 15: Today was a whole heckin lot (very good)

Today was all really good. I'm tired though, and stressed, so I feel less hype about it than maybe matches.

We woke up early, made lunch, and went to the CDI. We set it up and the kids came and we did...CDI stuff. Today I bonded a lot with one of the kids, Mateo. But that was the second session, i guess. The first session went really well. Our devotional and English lessons really landed and it seemed like the kids were paying good attention. We walked them to school and it was good. My Spanish brain was very tired today, I had trouble with simple phrases and comprehension.

Second session arrived with a lot of kids and a lot of energy. Matthew and I (during the play time) spent a lot of time wrestling with kids. We were obviously gentle though. Mateo (kid) saw this and when some of the littlest girls attacked him, he also wrestled them very gently. It was cool seeing him imitate restraint almost immediately.

We did our activity for the devotional: draw a picture of yourself, then write three things about you that are good and worthy of respect. After that, we mix them all up and distribute them all to different people and everyone writes two respect-worthy things about that person. The point of the exercise is to see and recognize the value and respect-worthiness of everyone. Matthew did a great job explaining this to the kids.

Mateo (kid) go the paper of someone he didn't like, so he wrote on it, "no escribo nada, no me cae bien," which is, "I'm not writing anything because I don't like you." Fortunately, I saw it and sat down with him and we talked about it. He was unhappy, but in the end, he scratched it out and wrote "I respect that you are smart and hard-working," or something similar. He then went and pouted in the corner during lunchtime. After a little while, I went and sat with him and told him that I was proud of him for showing restraint with the little girls and very proud of him for choosing to respect someone he didn't like. I told him that was hard, but that's the whole point of respect.

We did more stuff and did more stuff. I got to sew part of a pocket back onto a hoodie that had received too much love, so that was fun. Mateo, by the end of the day, was my bff and we worked on homework together.

By the time 4:00 rolled around, I was ready to crash, but excited to go home, since Alexis and I were going to talk on the phone while Matthew and Lagos practiced guitar.

Three of the kids, however, didn't get picked up. Their mom was at work, and their dad wasn't answering the phone. Nor was their grandmother, or anyone else we called. Eventually, an aunt came to pick them up. I hope everyone's ok; traffic today was really bad because it was raining, and I think the Uber driver said it was worse because it's payday (?).

Anyway, we left the CDI about an hour and a half later than planned and hopped in an Uber. Our 30-minute drive home took a solid hour and a half. Again, traffic was rough. After a little conversation with the driver, I just fell asleep.

We got to our house 10 minutes after the Bible study was supposed to start, but fortunately, none of the students were there yet. They started arriving and eventually we started around 8. Worship was really beautiful. Matthew and I tag-teamed some unplanned gospel-sharing during worship, and it was a beautiful start to the time. We read through Ephesians 1 in English and Spanish and had a tone of good conversation. One of the students, José (who goes by Soho), had a ton of questions that all circled around the gospel. Another student, Diego, had just gotten baptized last week, and was super excited. Basically, from 8:30 until about 11, we shared the gospel with the four guys who came to the Bible study.

I wish I could remember some of the comparisons and metaphors and references that got made. It was all very Spirit-led and unified. I think it was a huge leap forward in the understanding of the gospel for the students.

I got to step out after the Bible study and call Alexis (around midnight Texas time) to say goodnight, though I felt very sad we didn't get to Talk. This time apart is so short, but I feel it so keenly.

The homies left and I did some dishes and now I'm here typing! Tomorrow we'll start around 9, to make food for H@ngout and get ready to head to campus. The nights I stay up the latest for other things are also always the nights I have the hardest time settling down and going to bed. I think it's because I need time alone to decompress. Anyway, maybe I'll do some Duolingo.

PRAYERS PLEASE

-for the students to have gospel breakthrough moments

-for our team to balance our time well

-for wisdom in how to love like Jesus

-for energy to do a good job

-for the church here to be b l e s s e d
-for the CDI kids to feel God's love